By Lori Lyons
With his son’s birthday party coming up, Tommy Parsons of Luling was looking for something other than the usual Space Walk or Water Slide to rent for a party.
While cruising the Internet, he came across something he had never seen before. It was a video of people wearing large plastic bubbles and running into each other at full speed.
“I thought, ‘This looks different,’” Parsons said. “It piqued my interest so much I started doing a little research and I saw there was nothing like that around here.”
Fast-forward to a few months later and Parsons, a shift foreman at Shell, and his wife Angie, a Pampered Chef Consultant, were hosting their own kickoff party with adult friends and family to introduce them to Knockerball, one of the craziest party games you’ll ever see.
Grown men and women insert themselves into the large plastic orbs, which are fitted with straps and handles inside. Then, they just run into each other as hard and as fast as they can in a new age version of the playground game, “Red Rover.” Or, they can play Bubble Soccer, or any of a number of games that have been modified to account for the orbs and the people inside them. Players bounce off of each other, and walls, and anything else in their way. They get knocked down. Some have trouble getting back up. Then they get out, panting for air, dripping with sweat and headed for hydration.
“It is intense,” said Jacob Cook of Luling, one of the Parsons’ Knockerball guinea pigs at the kickoff party. “It sure is a great cardio workout.”
“It was a lot of fun,” said Brice Loyd of Matthews. “Exhausting, but very fun. It’s a good workout for sure.”
Of course, there’s one guy in every bunch who likes to knock everybody down just to watch them struggle to get back up. And the ladies were a little more lady-like than the men, who delivered blows that would have been crushing without the protection of the bubble.
Angie Parsons said the kickoff party was a great success – with no injuries.
“Everybody had a blast,” Parsons said. “Everybody seems to think that it’ll be a successful business.
“A lot of them couldn’t wait to get back in the ball.”
The Parsons’ Knockerball affiliate is officially underway and is available for party rentals, corporate events and fund-raisers throughout the Metro New Orleans area. You find the space and the Parsons bring the orbs. The cost for six balls (which can accommodate six to 12 people) is $300 for two hours. The cost for eight balls is $400 for two hours. The Parsons currently only have orbs for adults, but should have smaller child-sized bubbles available soon.
They also are looking into offering a cardio/fitness program with the orbs, which can be used indoors or out – wherever there is enough space.
Visit www.neworleansknockerball.com for more information or call 504-355-3413.
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